Arts, Briefly; Running Over the Reruns

By KATE AURTHUR; Compiled by Lawrence Van Gelder

Published: December 14, 2005

On Monday, the Atlanta Falcons, a team that still has playoff hopes, beat the woeful New Orleans Saints, a team that does not. The ''Monday Night Football'' broadcast of the game defeated the rerun-heavy schedule on the other networks. In Nielsen's estimates, ABC was No. 1 in both total viewers and adults 18 to 49. But football will not be a ratings boon to ABC's primetime schedule for much longer. On Dec. 26, it will broadcast the final edition of the Monday sports institution, which will move to ESPN, the network's Disney sibling, next season. This Monday, CBS's all-repeat schedule placed second in total viewers and the 18-to-49 demographic. On NBC, a new special, ''Elton John: Red Piano,'' drew 8.34 million viewers at 8 p.m., and the network finished the night in third place, as it usually does on Mondays. And for those interested in the ''Arrested Development'' death watch, that Fox comedy delivered an audience 3.95 million, and was fifth in its time period, ahead of only ''One on One'' on UPN. KATE AURTHUR